Britta's Secret
by Caitiann
Summary: Short Ficlet. Britta has a secret she's been keeping from the group. I'm keeping it a mystery from the reader too.


Britta was so far from amused right now. He was doing his silly knock on the door, and normally that made her grin despite herself. But right now her head was swirling, and she couldn't see anything besides that damnable stick in front of her eyes, with the annoying little plus sign looking up at her, mocking her.

They had been SO careful. Well, maybe not that careful. They both liked to drink and her questions of 'did we use…?' were followed with responses like, 'yeah, I probably just flushed it.' That's how this had all started anyway, just way too much to drink. But it was good; it felt special, so it happened again… and again. Now they spent more nights than not together. Both of them were too proud to use the "L word" but last night when he held her hair back as she vomited up her dinner told her enough. And that she hadn't straight up lied to him about what was going on. And that he went to the store to buy the test for her. Crap, they were in love.

Now Britta had to tell him. He wasn't what everyone thought, not up close, but he still wasn't exactly "Mister Reliable." She knew he wouldn't take off on her, but that didn't mean he wanted this. Hell, she didn't want this. Would they discuss the A word? Or worse, would he insist on the A word? That didn't sound like him, but nothing sounded crazy anymore. Britta Perry. 31. Pregnant. Crap, crap, crap.

"Britta? You're making me worry."

Britta stood up. Her legs were like jelly. She reached for the door, and slowly turned the lock. The door opened and he was standing there, his eyes wide, reaching for her.

"Well?"

She swallowed hard, and nodded lightly.

Suddenly, he was holding her, laughing. He squeezed her tightly, and when she squeaked slightly, he released her, saying.

"Oops, don't want to squish baby."

If Britta thought her head was spinning before, this was a whole different level. Her back hit the wall in the hallway, and she slid down, breathing heavily. He sat next to her, and held her hand.

"You're not happy."

Britta shrugged with one shoulder. "I don't know." She answered honestly. She didn't know. She didn't expect him to be happy. She didn't expect him to be looking her like this at all.

"You need to eat, Britta, and rest. This is a lot to handle, and what you're feeling is normal. Probably. I don't know anything about normal."

She laughed. That was such a HIM thing to say. She smiled at him, and before she knew it he was helping her up, and leading her to the couch.

"You're getting Shepherd's Pie. That's what my mom always used to make. Of course, I didn't make it, but I have a frozen one in my freezer from the last time she was here. So you're getting it."

She smiled as she watched him bustle around his tiny kitchen, trying to figure out how to cut into the frozen casserole, so that he could just microwave a portion, instead of having to oven heat the whole thing.

"Come here a second." Britta called to him from the couch. He walked over quickly.

"What do you need, anything. Except alcohol. And cigarettes! I know you sneak them sometimes, but they're not good for baby. Oh crap, I shouldn't drink if you don't drink, that wouldn't be fair. But anything else you want. Water? Crackers? Chocolate?"

She laughed and shushed him. "I just… I'm worried about what to tell the group." She whispered. This was a bit of a sore subject between them. He never understood why it was a secret to begin with. He wanted to tell them the moment they realized this was more than just an occasional booty call. But Britta knew the group would not react well to them coupling, and so they hid it. But now, now that she was going to be getting sicker, bigger, and more hormonal… it was going to have to come out.

"Ah."

That was all he said. She swallowed and tried to find a way to continue. She faltered, because looking at him, she knew he knew how she wanted to handle this. And based on the look in his eyes, she knew it hurt him.

"You don't want to tell them the baby is mine."

Britta shivered at his voice. He had barely choked out the words. "I mean, yes, I do, eventually, but maybe not right away." She hurried through the explanation, because he was already pulling away from her. He only nodded, and they stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity to Britta. Finally the microwave beeped, and broke the tension. He went into the kitchen, and pulled the plate from the microwave. He set the food down in front of her, but didn't make eye contact. He pulled a blanket off of a nearby chair, and laid it across her legs.

"I need some air."

And then he was gone. Britta sat there staring at the food. She couldn't eat it, the smell alone was making her sick, but that wasn't his fault. It was her fault. She needed to just bite the bullet and tell everyone. But every time she imagined it…. Oh God, the way Annie and Shirley would judge her. Would it hurt her former flame? Or would he be happy for her? She groaned. She slithered down in the couch, and pulled the blanket up over her head, and fell asleep. She didn't even hear him come in a few minutes later with a milkshake for her.

/

Annie chewed on her fingernail. This was extremely strange. Britta had texted them all early this morning:

_Can we all get together before our painting class tonight? Thx._

Now everyone but Britta was here. They sat in the study room staring at each other, each unsure of why they were there. The study room was largely useless, since they were taking a painting class. It was the only night class offered, and now that Jeff was teaching during the day, Annie was working on her masters at Colorado State, Abed and Troy had started their gaming company, Shirley was still keeping her sandwich place running with the help of Pierce's financial assistance, and Britta was doing whatever she was doing, they all needed a night class to take together since they worked during the day, and painting was it.

…Of course, there was no homework, and no tests, but the study table was THEIR study table, and they met to 'study' at it, regardless of how much studying actually ever took place.

Pierce was the first to break.

"This is ridiculous. Why are we sitting here waiting for Brittles? She's just going to tell us she's gay. Like we didn't already know." He chuckled haughtily.

"Pierce!" Annie huffed. "She wouldn't have asked us here before class if it wasn't important, so I think we should all just be patient." To her left, Jeff scoffed.

"Wasn't it Britta who lectured me repeatedly about being on time? Remind me to give her shit for that." Jeff didn't even look up from his phone to make his comment, and Annie kicked him under the table. Jeff didn't even respond to her kick, but stayed incredibly focused on his phone.

"Pierce is right." Abed said, causing everyone to shift their glances to him in shock. "Not about the lesbian part," he clarified. "Britta has been hiding something for weeks. Out of respect I haven't been trying to figure it out, but I am curious to know."

Annie and Shirley aww'd simultaneously.

"Abed, that is so nice of you to respect Brit-ta's privacy." Shirley intoned, before letting her voice take a deeper, darker tone. "But I need you to use your little robot brain to figure it out for me, okay?"

Annie turned to Troy, ignoring Shirley. "Troy, you're being really quiet, are you okay?"

Abed answered for him, "Troy still has jetlag."

"Abed, it's been 6 months since Troy got back from his trip. He shouldn't still have jetlag. Though that would explain why he insists on texting me at 3 in the morning." Annie answered him thoughtfully. Troy did look like he was asleep.

"Hey guys." Britta walked in, and everyone turned to look at her. She stood in the doorway, and Annie couldn't help but notice she looked pale.

"Britta, why don't you sit down, you don't look so good." Annie told her, but she shook her head vehemently.

"No, I need to get this out, while I have the guts." She swallowed, and everyone looked nervously at each other.

"Abed, wake up Troy." Annie whispered across the table. Britta didn't even seem to notice. Abed, shook Troy's arm, and he woke up. To Troy's credit, he immediately took in the mood of the room and looked up at Britta, who was staring steadfastly at the ground.

"Guys, I'm pregnant."


End file.
